Judge Judy Has Highest Salary on TV — She Makes HOW MUCH?!

The verdict is in and we are officially shocked at who’s making the most money on TV. Any guesses before we make our big reveal? Someone on a Shonda Rhimes-backed mega-series perhaps? Or how about one of our favorites on a show like Glee? Lea Michele has got to make bank, right?

Right, but blowing everyone out of the water is a little old lady in a big black robe. With an estimated annual salary of $47 million, Judge Judy takes the No. 1 spot in this year’s roundup!

E! Online has the details on its list of the top earning stars in the TV biz, reporting Judge Judy, aka Judith Sheindlin, earns nearly $50 million a year for her long-running TV series. Our next question after “How?”: Why doesn’t she have a gold-plated gavel yet?

The next star in line, Jon Stewart over on Comedy Central, doesn’t even come close to Judy’s paycheck. He makes somewhere in the neighborhood of $25 to $30 million a year, which, while not chump change, is still nearly $20 million less than what Judy’s bringing in. Excuse us while we go call our parents to tell them they were right, we should have gone to law school.

Are you surprised by the news? Want to learn who else made the list? Make your predictions in the comments below!